Tile wall structure



July 12, 1949. s. M. LICHACZEWSKI ,708.

TILE WALL STRUCTURE Filed April 8, 1947 Fig.1.

Inventor Stanley M. Lichaczewski Attorneys Patented July 12, 1949 UN-l TED" S TAT ES PAT E'NT F F'I CE TILE WALL STRUCTURE Stanley Lichaczewski, Van Dyke; Mich.

Application April 8, 1947, Serial No. 140,045 1 (Cl..'l221) This invention refers generally towall struc tures: and particularly to" tile wall structure in whichaplurality of regularly spaced tiles are secured to a plain wall "structure by means of specially designed:- nails with heads which are turned after the nail isdriven to engage slotted sider'portio'n's of thetiles, novelty residing in the structure of thetiles-perse, as well asin the method andmeans of securing these tiles to said plain wall structure."

It is aprimary object of this invention to provide atile wall structure which is extremely simple to build, it being such that those relatively unskilledin' the building artzmay easily-use this wall: structure.

' It is a further object of this invention to'pro-- vide a wallestructure whichis 'extremely strong andrdurabla'eachtile being supported at a relatively large number of points;- by: reason of the novel .nailing' attachment means as well as the Stilllanother object of this'invention is to pro vide a wall structure whichrcan be applied or built withoutspeeial tools and equipment van with aminimum of .labor.

And a last object to be specifically mentioned is to provide a wall structure in which the elements thereof are relatively inexpensive and practicable to manufacture according to generally recognized manufacturing processes, easily maintained in a clean and attractive condition, susceptible of various types of ornamentation, and which is generally adapted for efilcient service and durability.

With these objects definitely in view, this invention resides in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions substantially as hereinafter described in detail and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which form a material part of this application, and. in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a wall constructed according to this invention, the upper portion of the figure representing a wall of different character and which may be thought of as representing a wall of a type suitimpervious to water and generally 2c able for the application thereto of tile: structure dSCribBdJhBIBiII;

Figure 2 i513, horizontal sectional view,utaken on the line 2:4 in Figural;

Figure 3 is a'fragmentary view of a portion'of awall' constructed accordihgto this invention; the face portionrand'portions of the wall? of each: tile shown inthe-figure being'broken away toil-- lustrate how' thesheadednails and the slotted walls'of thetiles coactima manner assuring the proper securement of the tiles to the-wall, the figure being taken substantially upon-the line: 3 -3 in Figure z':

Figure 4'is aperspective'view of the rear of one of the tiles and" Figure 5 is azperspective' view of one of the headed nails used in thisinvention;

Similar characters of reference =desi'gnateisimi lar or identical parts and portions throughout. the specification and throughout the several views of the drawing.

Referring nowto the drawings-in detail, it will: be: noted that a wall 'lfll comprising studding |2\ an'd walli'boards' I4 or similar wall stru'cture',*con-- stitut'es the environment wherewith thisinvention is adapted to be used This environment will also ordinarily include molding it of the type used to border the upper edge of tiling;

It will'be noted thata plurality of tiles; each of the character generally represented at l8! are arranged in regular spaced relation andin-conjunction with cementit'ious material 20 applied to the wall boards M, are, as shown in Figure 2, applied to a layer of similar cementitious material22.

Each tile is generally rectangular in shape with what will be hereinafter referred to as the front face 24 closing one side of each tile, longer sides 26 and shorter sides 28, these sides being right angularly disposed to the front face 24. A pair of right angularly disposed cross members 30 are preferably integrally formed with the sides 26 and 28 and the front face 24, and the depth of these sides and the cross members 30 will preferably be equal. Each of the sides is apertured, as at 32 and 34, the slots being arranged longitudinally of the sides and of a width slightly greater than the diameter of the shank portion 34 of the nails, generally represented by the numeral 36. The tiles [8 will be constructed of relatively rigid, durable material such as metal or commercial plastic, and the cross members 30 may constitute a simple cross, as illustrated in Figure 4.

The shank portions 34 of the nails are sharpened as at 38 to facilitate the driving thereof into the wall, it being understood that the positioning of the studs I 2 of the wall will be such as to enable the majority of the nails 36 to be driven into these studs, consideration of this feature being desirable when walls of new buildings are being constructed for the application of tiles according to this invention. The heads 40 of the nails are elongated transversely of the shank portion 34 and the ends are preferably rounded as at 42, while the upper face of the head M1 is slotted, as at 44, to allow the. insertion thereinto of a turning tool of the general nature of a screwdriver.

In applying these tiles to the wall, the following procedure is thought to be the most simple, although variation thereof may be resorted to without changing the structural features of the elements of this invention. A layer of cementitious material 20 is applied to the wall, either directly to the wall boards M, to the plaster 22, or to lath of any desired character secured to the wall, and the nails 36 are driven into the wall being regularly spaced and positioned to provide a proper pattern of rectangles of dimensions slightly larger than the outside dimensions of the tiles. If desired, the nails 35 .may be driven before the cementitious material 20 is applied to the wall, and in any case, the nails are not driven home, the underside of the head 49 being necessarily spaced from the tile a distance only slightly greater than the dimension from the outside of the face 24 of the tile to the adjacent edge of the slot 32. The next step will ordinarily be the application of the tiles to the wall, with the inner edges of the clasp members 30 and the sides 26 and 28 embedded in the cementitious material 20, and the sides 26 and 26 in juxtaposition with the nails 36.

With the tiles l8 held in this. position, the heads 40 of the nails are turned by a screwdriver inserted in the slot 44 in each head, so that the outer ends 42 of the heads enter the slots 32 and 34, thus retaining the tiles in place. It will be understood, of course, that the spacing of the nails must be accomplished with consideration to the spacing of these slots 32 and 34, and that the driving of the nails must be accomplished with reasonable care. If reference is now had to Figure 3, it will be seen that this procedure has been represented by the nail heads 46 and 48 turned to engage the tiles on the edges of the 4 slots 32 and 34. The nail heads 50 and 52 are represented as positioned prior to the turning of the nail heads, and these same nail heads are shown in final tile-engaging positions in dash lines. Obviously, the hardening of the cementitious material 20 will further lock or bond the tiles in position, and a finished exterior is obtained by applying suitable cementitious mate rial of the same or another character to cover the nail heads and to fill in the channels between the tiles to the desired degree. This material filling in these channels is represented by the numeral 54, in Figure 2.

The operation of this invention will be fully understood from a consideration of the foregoing description and further description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

Though there has been shown a particular embodiment of this invention, this application is not limited to this particular embodiment, but it is desired to include in the scope of this invention the construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions substantially as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

A wall structure including wall boards, cementitious material on said wall boards, a plurality of hollow tiles, each tile comprising a face plate and peripheral sides right angularly disposed to and integral with said face plate, and cross bars terminally secured to and between said sides and secured to the inner side of said face plate, the edge portions of said cross bars .and sides remote from said face plate being embedded in said cementitious material, said sides having slots, and nails with elongated heads having their shanks partially inserted in said wall boards and material between said tiles with the end portions of said heads extending into and engaging opposed slots of adjacent tiles.

STANLEY M. LICHACZEWSKI.

REFERENCES CITED t The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Pauli July 6, 1943 

